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4.2Chemistry 01. Materials And Their Structure

The Rutherford model of the atom — Cambridge Checkpoint Science 0893 Revision Notes & Topical Questions

5 min read 6 parts Lesson 2 of 11 1 quiz

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4.2 Rutherford and the development of the model of the atom — CHECKPOINT - Lower Secondary Science 0893 notes: Describe how the model of the atom developed, including Thomson's plum pudding model and the Rutherford model based on the gold foil experiment.Model — the model of the …

  • Collaboration
  • Peer review
  • Mostly empty space
  • Dense nucleus
  • Rutherford's discoveries
  • Present model

Section 1 of 6Why scientists changed the model of the atom

  • Model
    • the model of the atom has developed as scientists from many countries added new evidence.
  • Collaboration
    • scientists working together and sharing their ideas.
  • Peer review
    • other scientists check the findings and repeat experiments to see if the discovery is true.

Section 2 of 6Thomson's model

  • Discovery
    • J.J.
    • Thomson discovered the electron in the late 1890s.
  • Plum pudding model
    • the atom is a ball of positive charge with electrons scattered through it.
    • The electrons are spread randomly like fruit in a cake.

Section 3 of 6Rutherford's gold foil experiment

  1. Fast-moving particles smaller than an atom were fired at very thin gold foil.
  2. Most of the particles passed straight through the foil.
  3. A few, about 1 in 8000, were deflected in different directions.
  4. A rare particle bounced straight back.

Section 4 of 6Conclusions from the experiment

  • Mostly empty space
    • most particles passed through, so the atom is mostly empty space.
  • Dense nucleus
    • the deflected particles hit a tiny dense centre, so the particles of the atom are packed into a nucleus.
  • Rutherford's discoveries
    • he discovered the proton in 1909 and the nucleus in 1911.

Section 5 of 6Chadwick and the neutron

  • Neutrons
    • James Chadwick proved in 1932 that neutrons exist.
    • This moved the model closer to the one used today.

Section 6 of 6Comparison of the models

ModelScientistMain idea
Plum puddingThomsonElectrons scattered through a ball of positive charge
NuclearRutherfordTiny dense nucleus at the centre with electrons moving around it
ShellBohrElectrons move in shells at different energy levels around the nucleus
  • Present model
    • the nucleus contains protons and neutrons and the electrons move around it in shells.

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